Were They Ever There At All ?

Every time I listen to the eerie Space before Bob Star/Other One I am transported back to that night. It was my third show and the one that got me hooked! Everyone has talked about the rain, mud, and fun but I have to say that the show, both natures and the band was beyond words! Phil's bass in the second set could take the top of your head off. All players were in the groove. In the almost 50 shows I had seen this still ranks as my personal top dog. Grateful for the experience and vivid memory!

did the lyrics to Esau ever get sorted out?

ok so this was the most surreal dead show (outta 75 or so) i ever did see! the second set was so over the top with the lightning and the band playing off each other, but that's all been said. my lasting memory was, after the show, as the creeks were rampaging over their banks, i sawed a hippiezoid with both feet inserted into watermelons propelling himself through the deluge as if cross country skiing! seemed to make perfect sense at the time. no really i sawed it. on our way home we determined that police officers should be relegated to dispensing orange juice at roadside stands and they would direct us to the next show. the next morning we called merriweather and axt if the 6/21 show was still on or if they were mad about the sod. i am so grateful that the dead are part of my life!!!

Had so much fun at this show, the girl I went with had never seen a dead show and the mud slide absolutley amazed her. The thing I remember after finally getting to where you could exit the lot was the river that flowed through. I gunned my engine and floored it, sent about a 7 ft wave up and hit all the people leaving and was lucky enough that forward momentum caried me to the other side. Have never driven through water on a road again. Had so many great times at Merriweather up to Dear Jerry.

Was not at this show, but lived in the area and went to other shows there. Some interesting items about this venue. From what I have heard, Mrs. Post bought this land b/c she was heavily into native American/Aboriginal culture and it was believed to have been a culturally significant location. I assume that Bobby knew about all this and was tweaking the crowd.

Another interesting thing I experienced there is that while at the Garcia '89 show with another touring buddy - he had an experience where he looked down at the floor under his seat during the show and swore that it and the stairs had turned into a river/waterfall. Others I have spoken to have had similar 'visions' there. You gotta love Merriweather.

Decent quality recording with some outstanding energy.

Y'all say what you will, but the beauty of the sound is in the beholder. I tend to like a good AUD over any SBD. I can smell smoke when listening to a good SBD. I don't get that from a SBD. I almost feel sorry for those with discerning ears.

Oh what a show, the most memorable ever for me. I lived accross Rt. 29 and walked to this show, and swam home.

I was in high school and had been to a few shows in DC and Baltimore, maybe Hampton too. Then the word came - MERRIWEATHER. Getting chills now even. Somehow me and my buddies scored pit tickets at the Hecht Company in the mall - ticktron I guess.

All the reviews are right on. Floods, mud, lightning and more. I broke free and had a space all the way up near phil's side speaker. I know the guard thought I was insane dancing like a fool. Unreal, unreal, unreal - I love this show.

If there's a video please I'd love to see it.

The Best Wharf Rat...where's a better one? the jam just deconstructs and tears and shreds....

i've read most of the reviews. i was 23 at the time of this show and had seen many shows. this show was incredible. i was in the lawn, with a new girfriend who wasnt a deadhead. it rained so fuking hard the whole time that even stuff deep inside of my wallet was wet. we left during sug mag- bless her heart, she was shaking from being drenched to the bone. the most memeorable part of the show, for me, was Music never stopped- phil and bob were spooning and rocking back and forth as one unit on center stage -just jammimg their ass off. just incredible. maybe one day a SBD will surface (pssst, charlie miller, are you out there) or even a video.

This show was a blast. We just got in from Saratoga Springs two nights before, and the weather looked ominous. The place was electric, and the band did not let down. The sound was perfect, and the band was on. Other than Jerry's one botch of the bridge transition in China Cat it was just about exactly perfect. The lightning strikes were practically choreographed...I still don't know how Jerry arranged that. I think this was the show when Bobby fell over the drum set during Sugar Magnolia, but I can't be sure. I remember walking up a mud hill after the show because the bridge was out to the parking lot, and everyone started mooing like cattle. Classic Dead moment. When we got to the parking lot after walking in knee-deep water, my buddy looks over at the Harley's parked in about 5'feet of water and says "it looked like such a nice shady spot this afternoon!".

Bottom line, fantastic show, definitely worth the download, and watch the volume in Wharf Rat when they get ready for "I'LL GET UP AND FLY AWAY". Phil will destroy your speakers. Enjoy.

I was at this show and it was a peak evening in my life. I remember the first set as a wonderful thing. Minglewood and They love each other got the blood pumping. I always love to hear Esau and West LA. But Music never stopped is a first set favorite for me. I remember the rain starting and getting us all wet, but then the sun came out and dried us off. I felt intensely good and now I was washed and dried. Man I was ready to go off. I remember thinking of a kind of baptism. All kinds of things were going off in my head this night. Anyway, the rain came back with a vengeance and there would be no drying off for those of us on the field. China-Rider, Samson He's gone and trucking were beautiful. I danced my wet and muddy ass off. Fun stuff. After the drums and into space I was in a kind of trance. I don't think I had blinked since Trucking. If you listen to the spooky jam prior to the Bob Star you will hear a sharp and brief feedback from Bobby. I swear it was like he personally popped me right between the eyes. I blinked. The lightning seemed special ordered by God and I thought God was sitting in with the Grateful Dead. Coooool. Bob star and Phil kick us into The Other One and we are off. Way off. During Wharf Rat when they sing "I'll get up and fly away", The lightning hit the stage right on que(is that how you spell que?)? I told you God was sitting in with the band. Well of course Sugar Magnolia and Sunshine Daydream were rockin' in a most large way. And Bobby with the "Do know the people they call the Aborigines?" "They think this side is the dream side." The copy I have of this show has some girl I think screaming just as he finishes saying it. Perfect. And Baby Blue is always a favorite. Good times at Merriweather. They played the next night to and I was there. But this night(which was the summer solstice if you didn't know) was a highlite in my Grateful Dead show career. Bobby hit me right between the eyes. Gone are the days.....

That Dead show was a serious trip! As the people filed in, there was this dark cloud hovering directly over the amphitheater, but no rain. As the music started, a light drizzle began and the rain intensity mirrored the music intensity. They were completely in synch and the cloud just sat on the venue until the end of the show. When the music stopped, so did the rain. The lightning would strike behind the stage (you could see it through the sectional background) and when Jerry would hit a power chord the lightning came in sheets. The sound system went out a couple of times and kind of bubbled back to life as the speakers regained power... The storm was synched to the band and the lightning strikes came with power chords!! The lawn was a mudslide and at the end of the night you couldn't see the bridge over the creek because it was completely underwater, railing and all! All that was in evidence of the harleys parked near the creek were the tops of the handle bars.soaked to the bone fun!!

Sunshine Daydream just tears it up on a rain soaked night. Sweeeet!

Wow. No need to give a long write up on this sucker. A classic performance that goes down in Grateful Dead history as one of the best. In fact, the Dead never played a bad show at Jerryweather Post. This was my second show and I remember the only bummer being not being able to light my bowl out on the lawn. Oh well. The Dead more then made up for that. This should be in every head's collection.

This recording *is* "loud and hollow sounding."

But that don't make it horrible, brother. Stay away from the brown acid.

Or not.

So, is Bobby taking a toke break during Peggy O or what? Brent and Jerry are extrapolating like acid maniacs, riding on Lesh's fat thunderclouds. The drummers are solid. But Weir's figuring out how to work the stick on his Ferrari or something.

This is not to say that Bobby doesn't show up elsewhere in rarified form ...

It sure would be nice if someone located and posted the baby blue encore. Ordinarily not my favorite, but this night it rocked, with ongoing lightning strikes and crowd cheers throughout. Anyone know where I can find this conclusion to a remarkable show?

This ranks as my only underwater Dead show. My friends and I danced the whole show through out in the rain, and loved it! We had hoped the rain would blow over, but it didn't and so we made the most of it, enjoying the warm downpour, along with hardier souls who used the walkways to body surf down the hill, there being that much water coming down at once that small streams formed inside the venue. When we got out of the show we could see cars under water halfway up their windows, and we couldn't find our car for about 3 hours. It sure was different from the previous show at Saratoga, but that's one of the things that made Dead tour great - anything could happen.

Meb 28 2006. This is the way to celebrate Mardi Gras in these strange times. All times are strange but these seem even moreso. I used to have this tape, it is packed or ?? during my last move. I am SO lucky for this site!!!! Today I just had to hear this amazing combo -- Steven Stills guesting in doing Black Queen into Iko Iko w/the band. Lo and behold, with an internet serach, it appeared!

In my opinion this is one of the most amazing moments in musical history (3t04 and 3t05 in this setlist). Play with your volume/etc. settings when you listen .... get it right and I tell you it's true. They've taken us elsewhere with this one.

Thank you so much to whoever put up this site, the recording, etc. It is really wonderful. Many blessings to you.

What?
Hot Shows 83 Merriweather. Thats old school baby. Both nights are just nice solid Grateful Dead, Ilove this run along with Saratoga and The Greek shows. Some of the best Dead ever and the Spring tour in April was top notch stuff also. All dat shit.
Jerry shredds it on Love Each Other, Peggy-o- and He's Gone are real nice.
nice pavilion audience recording
**Whoa Jerry's is off the tracks on China whoops.
Its still hot thought. The transition is pretty sweet.
This is a 5 in my book. Ilove this shit,
Summer 83 Merriweather Post nothin' else to say.

I thought the show was about a 3/5 for sound quality and a 1/5 for band quality. I was floored when China/rider almost came of the tracks 3 or 4 times. Really, I don't mean any disrespect to those of you that were there, but I felt literally zero energy from the band, especially jerry.

I was at this show front and center witha bunch of great guys that drove from Cally and we all agreed this was the best show we had ever seen. There is no way this is a 4, I have been to 70 shows and listened to 400 shows on LMA and this is thes best TLEO, Rooster, Music, This show was SICK BROS I WAS THERE BELIEVE ME I SAW SARATOGA ALL OF THEM AND THIS WAS THE BEST HANDS DOWN. It was off the f*ckn hook. This is no 4, Get past the Minglewood probs and crummy recording and listen up....

Phil owns this show and his bomb dropping was frequent and pushed everybody. Saratoga wins for an incredible setting - This place was brand new and all it took was 1 downpour and 10,000 acid fueled heads to trash the place, and we did...

Congratulations, folks, you got a winner! This is no ordinary show; the energy is over the top. Give it a listen and see what you think:
Among the best versions of TLEO, Best Little Red Rooster, Music Never Stopped, Sugar Mag. And lightning strikes in the middle of Wharf Rat, setting off bass bombs by Phil.

Okay, so I have a buddy who used to work at the Wax Musuem when it was a nightclub. The Wax had a Ticketron booth on the premises. So, we get hammered one night and start schmoozin' the Ticketron girl, who was very cute.

Just for grins, I say to her "Hey, howzabout you punch up some Dead tickets for us, we wanna go to the Merriweather show."

She replies "Well, I could try it, but they don't go on sale until 10 am tomorrow morning."

Me: "Awwww c'mon, give it a try!"

Her: "Okay, how many do you want?"

Me: "I dunno, how about 20?"

Her: "Okay, but it'll never work."

Guess what? That's right, someone at Ticketron fucked-up and the tickets started spewing out of the printer!! We were flabbergasted. And these just weren't any old tickets, they were 8th row CENTER - the first 7 rows were reserved for the Dead's entourage. Ho-lee Shit, what a SCORE!

Come the day of the show, my buddy informs me that he just scored some *bonus* mushrooms, woo-fuckin'-hoo!! All I can say is that this was the BEST Dead show I ever saw! When that lightning strike went off during Wharf Rat, I damn near lost it. It was like God himself joined in on the party and he brought the good stuff with him!

Truly a memorable show...

i didn't realize at the time that this, my first show, was so good! and this v.g. sounding aud. recording beats all the others i have ever heard. thanks, chris for getting it on disc for me!! your the man!

finally, copy of my first show that's clear enough to enjoy listening to! we got 3 seats in row c, at the gate! great show, very good sound for an aud. hope a sbd shows up before another 20 years pass. thanks archive.

what a couple of over the top reviews below.Sid Weiss... the sound on this is not bad considering its an aud its pretty good for that matter, but then again i know whenever i read a review from someone who says the sound sucks its usually someone who only listens to soundboards and probably not that many for that matter and has only heard the cream of the crop therefore doesnt see it from a full perspective, anyone who listens to a considerable amount of dead knows this sound is not bad......oh yea this is NOT the best dead show ever and none of the versions of those songs are the best ever. best MNS? are u kidding me, whenever i read shit like that it just makes me shake my head and wonder whats wrong with people.. of all the times they played MNS u really think this is the best? in truth there is no best, i dont understand it, if u really love u dead u would understand that theres like 100 best sugar magnolias, how the hell could u really pick one, THERE IS NO BEST OF ANY SONG THE DEAD EVER DID THERE IS A WHOLE SHITLOAD OF VERY GOOD VERSIONS, THERE IS NO BEST SHOW JUST A WHOLE SHITLOAD OF GOOD ONES,is anyone on this site a deadhead and really love the dead as a whole, seeing no point in picking out single versions of songs and shows and eras, i love it all doesnt anyone else?.. oh yea this is a very good show though by the way

I would have given up all the vinnie shows and even many of the Brent shows to have been able to see this second set. The moment of lore and mythology, the one in rat where heaven sends down a bolt and Phil responds without missing a beat with the bomb, probably would have sent me into a place where I very well wouldn't have gotten out from...so maybe it's a good thing I wasn't old enough to have been there. Then that Sugar... and then that SSDD, and those final furious, monstrous screams that are with me whenever I need them. Finally, Garcia drops one of the heaviest Baby Blues I've ever heard. What a show, what a set, what a post space. Unimaginable power. Inconceivable intensity. The most brutal attack of the decade and one that changed some lives. The fact that there is no board of this show (or spac) is one of the great shames of Western Civilization, but at least Silberman (thanks Steve) was able to capture this the way it was. This feat, in and of itself, should get him to heaven.
Dstone5553@aol.com

i had reserved seating for this gig, but got wet anyway. how can you ignore the sky when she puts on a light show perfectly in sync with phenomenal music? the mud people were in their glory--all that freshly laid sod washed away--a huge gooey hill to slide down! and (most important) nobody, to my knowledge, was struck by lightening or drowned in the "insta-river" rapids we had to cross to get to the parking lot.

the tape i had of this show has been gone for years, i didn't realize how much i missed it until just now. burn this show, it's good for the soul.

First of all to explain the crowd cheering for no apparent reason: It was the lightning-but only the huge majestic bud shaped lightning that ran ACROSS the sky. When the lightning came down it would short out the power for a moment. You could not have timed it better. As for the show.... Although the second set is legendary for the Sugar Mag, the first set is just as great. This show is, in my opinion the finest example of a unique era for the band. The band was playing without te bells and whistles that were to come in 85. Every song is stripped to its basics and played ferociously. Brent stepped out and gave us a taste of what we would see from him in the years to follow. Phil was dropping bombs with reckless abandon, Bobby was HAMMERED (but not sloppy), Mickey and Billy were relentless, and Jerry kept taking things to another level. Two notes: At the end of SSDD Bobby was banging his guitar on the stage. But in perfect Bobby fasion he could not break it. The lightning strike during Wharf Rat was the single most intense moment I have ever experienced at any of the hundereds of shows by any band that I have experienced. GET THIS SHOW

it is loud and hollow sounding.

we came down from saratoga which was really wild and was going to be hard to top - the weather was miserable I mean it was pissing but there was ntg you could do to dampen everyones spirits - I have never found a copy of this in 20 years and listened fondly for the the first time tonight remembering the downpour how these animals just destroyed these hills of freshly laid sod and were covered in mud - if memory serves this was the first show ever played at Merriweather - I slept in the parking lot the first night and woke up with a river going over my sleeping bag - next night was the mayday call to the relative for the hot shower and vittles...

Hot & long minglewood little red rooster music+++ Show rips all the way through Bobby was on fire and this is the last time 'Bob Star' was rapped which is a shame - they started the first few licks of cryptical before drums phil was wacking the strings during the primero wharf rat and bobby was insane in one of the best sugar mags they have ever played... cant remember why the crowd would suddenly cheer.....seen almost 70 shows and this is one of the top three... take this to the bank this is one of the best shows they played in the 80's and is overshadowed by UVM Binghampton and Byrne earlier that spring....

It was awesome!!! There was a mud sliding board down the hill towards the pavilion....didn't partake but everyone was coated with mud...LOL...parking lots under water...I was under the pavilion & there was a flood coming down under all the seats...I taped this show but with shitty mics.... if you want it I could dig it out & listen to see if it's worth posting...
S. Hanley
Waikiki, HI.

I was on the lawn for this epic show. There was rain coming down in buckets most of this show. I was one of the few with dry smokes afterwords. Anyhow the first set was real solid but the second set shines. During warf rat there was a huge crack of thunder and a lightning bolt split the sky behind the stage (on the tape you can hear the PA got out for a second). Phil must have heard the thunder because he tries in vain to equal what God sent down.Definatly add this show to your collection as it is amazing and I wont go into the outragous Sugar Mag except to say you have to hear it to beleive it! One of my all time favorite shows of any band ever.

This is it! The Sugar Mag where Bob goes off his rocker and rocks off his ass too. He raps about dreamtime and then the banshee wails at the end have to be heard to be believed. What was in his tea at the setbreak? Yeaaheyaaahhh! Yeaahehyaaaaa!
Too bad the sound of the post-drums source is tinny and a bit distorted. We need an upgrade! The rest of the show sounds fine.